Game Eleven of the big chess match ended in a draw after a long, difficult endgame. Kramnik, playing black, stuck to his beloved Slav Defense despite the catastrophe in game nine. Topalov again tried a new idea, but Kramnik defended well and entered an endgame where he had only a very slight disadvantage. After some inaccuracies by Topalov, Kramnik managed to gain the upper hand and even won a pawn. But it was not enough to win and eventually a draw was agreed.

The twelfth and final game is on Thursday. All tied up, including the forfeit by Kramnik in game five. Both players have a lot of incentive to go for broke. How will it end? Stay tuned!

Comments

Kramnik is already on record as saying he is playing the match and any tie-break under protest. If Topa wins or even draws tomorrow, look for an increase in the volume, perhaps talk of lawsuits. If Kramnik wins, then he will have won the match in spite of ‘spotting’ Topalov a game, a fact he’s sure to mention in the post match gloating.

I’m hoping Kramnik wins tomorrow for precisely that reason. If he wins then everyone will acknowledge him as the rightful winner of the match. But if Topalov’s free point affects the outcome of the match, then people will not regard the result as legitimate.

Legally I’m not sure if Kramnik has a leg to stand on. After all, he didn’t show up for game five. Even if he was protesting the decision of the appeals committee, he still can’t not show up and expect to have everyone overlook it.

The bigger issue is that there just isn’t a cleary best chessplayer in the world right now. Everyone acknowledged Kasparov as the best player, and Karpov before him, and Fischer before that. But right now there’s just a collection of five or six players at the top who are all phenomenally talented, but with no one person standing clearly above the pack. It’s not surprising that neither the Kramnik-Leko match, nor the current match, seem primed to produce a clear winner.